The proposed annual conferences, The Minority Faculty Development in Aging Research Conference Series, are designed to provide a forum for the scientific advancement of faculty development processes and tools developed by the NIA Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMARs), the NIA Pepper Centers, the NIA Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers, the NIA Roybal Centers; and other national center programs, such as EXCEED and EXPORT, that share common missions. The Series will be managed by the UCLA National RCMAR Coordinating Center (CC), which brings considerable expertise in faculty development programs and conference management. Four years of funding for the annual conferences is being requested, to span the current funding cycle of the RCMAR CC. The Planning Committee for the Series is chaired by James S. Jackson, PhD, a renowned leader in minority aging research and an experienced director in minority faculty development training. The annual conferences will be linked to the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Scientific Meetings, and an established successful collaboration for two previous pre-conferences on minority aging research content. Addressing health disparities is a national priority, and increasing the cadre of qualified minority faculty in aging research is seen as one important avenue to improve health disparities research. The RCMARs, and other national programs, have been challenged to develop processes and tools to improve minority faculty in aging research by identifying and addressing the challenges and barriers for academic advancement and independent research success of minority and women faculty. This conference series provides an important forum for sharing across RCMARs and other NIA-sponsored programs with this common mission. Each annual conference will address a critical theme in minority faculty development, guided by scientific literature and the expertise and experience of the planning committee. The theme for the first one-day program in the series proposed for the 2003 GSA Pre-conference is "Maximizing Minority Faculty Success through Mentoring" to be held in San Diego, CA.